Pickle Me This: Small-Batches, Plenty of Bite

by Joanne Camas

on 06/06/14 at 09:45 AM

For a while, Kristin Stangl led an intriguing double life, juggling work as a public defender in Nashville courtrooms with a fledgling side business as a pickler. As owner of Pickle Me This, she reckons she's canned more than 500 jars of pickle, all in a single water-bath canner.

Then she upped and left for New York City. Pickle Me This went on hiatus, but now she's ready to uncork the brine and cook up more of her popular fruit and vegetable pickles. (Yes, fruit.)

"My path to pickles has had many detours," she explains. "Now the dust has started to settle from the move and my career change (I'm a middle school math teacher), and I'm thinking creatively toward the next steps for Pickle Me This. I am testing the waters on getting my pickles into restaurants in the form of cocktails and menu items."

Stangl told us how she decides which spices to use (cardamom, ginger, and more), why root vegetables are her favorites, and in vivid detail about a disgusting pickle disaster.

First, how did you become interested in pickling?

Without a doubt my passion is cooking and feeding people. I grew up surrounded by excellent cooks: both grandmothers and my mom would spend hours in the kitchen, and I would be right there at their knees. I spent countless summer days helping my Austrian grandmother stuff and fold pierogi and kiffles at her kitchen table. I was a fearless eater as a child due to my exposure to the strong flavors of my grandparents' Eastern European heritage -- headcheese, blood sausage, and sauerkraut were at the top of my list of preferred snacks growing up. I think this exposure to Eastern European foods at such a young age makes me crave the acidic kick of pickles and brines.

Fast-forward to my 28th birthday, when my then-boyfriend (now husband) gifted me with a water-bath canner and pickling book. My first batch of pickles was spicy carrots from the Ball Jar Canning cookbook. Since then I have pickled myriad vegetables and fruit, but never a cucumber.

When did you realize that people loved your pickles and you should sell them?

Living in Nashville with a batch of football-loving friends meant we hosted NFL football at our house every Sunday. I started serving my spicy pickled carrots as nibbles at these football fetes. Friends started raving and asking for jars. That's when recipe development -- the real fun -- really began.

The kicker is, of course, you can't taste the pickle creation immediately. You have to wait, one week, sometimes four, to see if the flavors you imagined really come together and work. Pickling is unique from other cooking in that sense: It's science meets art, and if you mess up, you end up with boring (best case) or botulism (worst case).

You pickle a variety of veggies. Which make the best pickles, and why?

For the best pickles, the fruit or veg you start with should be firm. This is why root vegetables are so fantastic -- carrots, turnips, they hold their shape and keep a bit of a bite. I have had to toy around with the cut of the veg and fruit: A lot of people have commented on how my pickled carrots still have a "crunch" and are not mushy. I appreciate the produce and don't want to turn it into baby food in the process of turning it into a pickle.

For softer produce -- like my strawberries and plums -- I had to accept that these would turn more into a compote of sorts. I still buy the plums underripe to protect their shape. But honestly, when it comes to the fruit, the more syrupy and saucy the better, as the fruit is best spooned over yogurt or ice cream, or slathered on toast with a bit of ricotta.

Any pickle disasters to own up to?

Radishes. I tried to do a little jar with dill and bay leaves. You can find plenty of pickled radish recipes online, so this is something people choose to do, but all I got when I opened the jar was a blast of sweaty gym socks. Apparently this happens with the radish. Turns right to feet after a dip in the brine. I couldn't really even tell you if they tasted okay, since the aroma was too much and I couldn't get past it.

There seems to be no herb or spice that isn't in your pickles: Clove, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, fennel, and more. What inspired you to use such an assortment of flavors?

I like things that taste good and interesting. Even with more of my straightforward recipes, the spicy carrots that have garlic, red pepper flakes, and the occasional caraway seed when I'm feeling clever; I like to really up the amount of seasoning so it packs a punch.

My typical approach to developing a recipe is to think about the taste of the star ingredient (carrot, grape, onion) and play around with a list of flavors I associate with it (for onion, I originally thought to smoke them, since onion reminds me of meat/grilling and the musty flavor of French onion soup) or flavors that will play off what the star ingredient already brings to the table (plums are sweet and slightly floral, so a natural complement would be the spice of ginger and the floral punch of cardamom).

Want to know more about pickling? Check out our Canning Primer, with techniques, tips, equipment info, and recipes.